WHO IS ISOBEL O'FLAHERTY?
by Saeshmea
Summary: It's the first day of term 1984. Minerva is calling the new students to be sorted to their houses when she comes across a name that seems to disturb her: Isobel O'Flaherty. She looks at Dumbledore for answers but he ignores her. Only Severus seem to notice the scene from his seat. Who is this girl? Why does her name make Minerva tearful? R/w
1. The name on the list

**Disclaimer: Everything you can recognize from the amazing Harry Potter saga belongs to the wonderful and beloved JK Rowling, as you all well know (and if not, I don't know what you're doing reading this... :P). The rest comes from my imagination and it's a gift for you to enjoy and the only way I have to thank the woman who brought light to my school and high-school years with her fantasy world.**

**Apologize: Like I do at the beginning of all my fics (the newer ones, at least), I apologize in advance for my grammar and spelling mistakes. I'll appreciate it if you don't take my try to write in English and not my native language (which is Catalan) as an offence to yours, but a praise. I don't have a Beta Reader not because I haven't asked or been asked, but because it just doesn't work for me... I'm sorry.**

**After having said that, I hope you enjoy this first chapter.**

**...**

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty**

**Part 1 - the name on the list**

**.**

_The sound of the drops of rain hitting against the crystal window was distracting her. She knew that what he was saying concerned her, that it was important, but she didn't want to hear._

_"Minerva," he called her name, "Minerva, are you listening to me?"_

_"I'm sorry, Albus, what were you saying?" she excused herself raising her eyes at the man in front of her._

_"I was saying that the war is no place for a baby..."_

* * *

...

* * *

After freshen up and get dressed, Minerva McGonagall abandoned the empty Gryffindor tower to have some breakfast. This had been a very stressful week getting everything ready, but finally it had come to an end, in a few hours the students would began to arrive to the school, and tomorrow the new term would began.

In the meantime, the staff was having their meals in the teachers lounge, since it was a more cozy room to fit them. When she arrived she noticed everybody was standing at one corner of the table, looking at something and babbling like children. She sat at the other side, next to the only other person who seemed not to care about the excitement of their colleagues.

"Good morning, professor Snape," she muttered while pouring some tea on her cup.

"Good morning," he responded politely and passing her the pot of sugar, which he apparently had just been using.

"Do you know what's going on over there?" she asked, with a hint of curiosity but mostly trying to make conversation with the other professor.

"Apparently, professor Filius was owled some pictures of his first grandson and now is showing them to everybody," he explained. And despite he couldn't care less about the matter, he did find it curious that Minerva had stayed on her seat instead of rushing to see the photographs, "aren't you joining them, professor?"

"I don't like babies," the words choke on her throat as she spread some butter on a cold toast. At that moment, the Headmaster came in and coughed to make his presence clear. As everybody went back to their seats, he walked to professor Flitwick and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I've arranged it for you to have this first week off, Filius," he said, "I only expect you to accommodate the new students and then you can leave to visit your daughter."

"I really appreciate it, Albus, but I already told Mary I wouldn't be there until the weekend."

"Nonsense. You'll leave tomorrow evening so you can enjoy more time with the new member of the family," Dumbledore insisted, "Minerva and I will take care of your duties while you are gone, she won't mind, right dear?" He looked at his Deputy Headmistress, who was sitting at the other end of the table, and everybody turned around to see her reaction.

Minerva glowered at the Headmaster. The last thing she needed to deal with during the first week of term was the classes and students of another teacher, like if she hadn't enough work of her own!

"No, of course not," she forced a smile on her lips, "say hi to Mary from me, Filius."

After that, the Headmaster sat down at the center of the table and everybody returned to their breakfast. Only Severus seemed to have noticed the bread toast becoming nothing more than crumbs as Minerva clenched her fist around it.

"Why don't you just tell him you're not ok with it?" he asked her, whispering so nobody else could hear them.

"What good would that do?" she questioned, and her words hanged on the air until everybody was gone and back to their duties.

* * *

Minerva watched the clock as she tapped with her fingers the handrail of the stairs. It was about time that Hagrid arrived, and it didn't matter how many times she'd done that, not even how upset she still was about having to work double during the next days, she was still getting nervous like the first year she became Deputy, before meeting the new students for the first time.

She smiled when she could finally hear them, and tried to stay serene when the first children reached her.

"Good evening," she said, "I am Professor McGonagall," as she talked the children gathered around her and she tried to take a glimpse at each of their amazed faces, "Welcome to Hogwarts. Now please, follow me into the Great Hall."

She crossed the large room with decision and climbed the few steps that separated the professor's table from the students' as the eleven-year-old bunch of kids awaited, staring at the hat on the stool.

Professor McGonagall walked to the Headmaster, who handed her a rolled parchment, and then faced the students again.

"I will call your name, and you will step up here and sit down," she instructed before saying the first name, "Margaret Adams!" she said with a very clear voice and a young brown-haired girl approached her shyly and sat on the stool as Minerva lifted the hat and put it on her head.

After a moment of complete silence, the magic hat spoke with a deep voice.

"Hufflepuff!" it said, and one of the large tables began to clap as the young girl run to sit down with her new house companions.

As Minerva went through the list, the joy of the evening was shown on the teacher's table as well. Flitwick was commenting to Madam Pomfrey that he never recalled another year with so many new acquisitions for Ravenclaw; Sprout was telling Trelawney and Madam Hooch about the special welcoming party they had every year in the common room after the dinner; Snape was silent, watching Minerva do her job and only applauding when the hat said the name of his house.

"Isobel," was the next name on the list, "Isobel O-" but it seemed to choke on Minerva's throat. Of course, after saying thirty seven names out loud, who wouldn't need a sip of water? But that didn't seem to be her problem. She turned around and scowled at the Headmaster like if there was something wrong. Dumbledore just grinned and made a gesture with his hand for her to continue with the list. Minerva faced the students, looked down at the parchment and glanced at Albus one more time.

Of course all that happened in a fraction, so fast that it was almost unnoticed by everyone, except for the observant potions master who sat at one corner of the table. He did realize that there was something wrong with that name, something serious enough to fill the eyes of his colleague with tears.

"Isobel O'Flaherty," she finally said with no trace of trouble in her voice.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: This is the first part of a story that will take around 5 to 10 chapters (no more, I hope). There will be many turns of events (maybe I'm exaggerating by "many"), so things won't be what they seem at first sight. Feel free to ask anything, tell me what you think, what you expect... I'll post sooner or later depending on the response of this first chapter, since I don't want to go as fast as I did with Hogwarts 1997.**


	2. The broken promise

**A/N: Thank you very much to the first followers of the story ^_^ I will guess you are following because you think the first part was good, and that is nice to know. Thanks.**

**I'm sorry this is such a short part, but I am afraid they will all be more or less this long.**

.

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty?**

**Part 2 - THE BROKEN PROMISE**

.

_It had suddenly stopped raining outside. It was dark night and she was tired of crying._

_"I need you to promise me something," she asked with a cold voice._

_"Anything," he said._

_"That she will never learn about me..." she said, "I wouldn't be able to bear it."_

* * *

...

* * *

"Isobel O'Flaherty," she heard her name being called and stepped up in front of the crowd of students also dressed in the same weird black clothes she had had to dress on in the train.

She walked hesitatingly towards the tall woman in the pointy hat and frowned. She seemed about to cry.

With a gesture of her hand she indicated for her to sit on the stool and placed the talking hat on her head.

"Hmm, an O'Flaherty..." it said startling her, "It's been a long time since one attended the school. I wonder which house you'd like to be. You certainly suit for Ravenclaw, you are an intelligent young girl," he rambled, "thought maybe your loyalty could bring you to the honorable Gryffindor house. Hmm, let's see..." everybody seemed expectant at the hat's final decision, the professor standing next to her was crumpling the parchment on her hands nervously, she herself didn't really cared. That night was the first time she'd heard of the school houses, so for her they were nothing else but weird names. What did actually intrigue her was the Hat talking about her family because, as far as she knew, she didn't have one. "Slytherin!" the deep voice over her head took her back from her thoughts and she saw the entire table at the right stand up and clapping at her.

Isobel smiled shyly and walked away, happy to finally be able to just sit down and relax after such an amazing journey from London.

"Hi," the girl she sat next to saluted as professor McGonagall continued with the list of names, "my name's Berta, and this is Anthony," she said pointing at the boy in front of them.

"Hello," Isobel replied, "you can call me Bel."

"Hi Bel," the boy said, "where are you from?"

"London, and you?" the girl asked looking at both her new friends.

"I'm from Norwich," Anthony answered first, "my parents own a small apothecary there, they expect me to become a potions master and continue with the family tradition."

"You're lucky," Berta interrupted, "my mom wants me to become a mediwitch so I can work as a nurse at St. Mungo, but what I really want to do is work with dragons." she explained, "What about you, Bel?"

"I..." the girl didn't know what to say, she hated people's reactions when she explained them she had grown in an orphanage, but she didn't like lying, "Aren't you afraid of dragons?" she questioned trying to distract their attention.

"No, my uncle used to live in the mountains and whenever I visited him I would always watch the Common Welsh Green dragons fly to their nest," she explained to Isobel, who found it very difficult to picture a real dragon.

The three of them turned their heads to see how the sorting was going. The last student was walking towards the professor. They hadn't heard his name, but he was a red-headed tall boy that sat naturally on the stool as the hat was placed on his head.

"Another Weasley," the animated piece of clothing said, "it's nice to see a family growing. Let's not make your table wait, with no doubt you are a..." it made pause, like willing to create exasperation in the crowds, "Gryffindor!"

One of the tables in the middle stood up to welcome their new colleague and at the professor's table, the wizard in the middle stood up to speak.

"Let the feast begin," Dumbledore announced and all types of food appeared suddenly in front of Isobel eyes.

* * *

After the last of the new students had been sorted to his house, the Deputy Headmistress stormed into the trophy room, behind the professor's table, and professor Dumbledore excused himself and followed her in a less dramatic way.

"We should go back outside before people begin to wonder why we are here," the Headmaster said after closing the door of the dark room behind him, but Minerva payed no attention to him. She was standing at the other side, nervously moving her legs, with her arms crossed in front of her and crying.

"Minerva, please, now it's not time to-"

"You promised!" she suddenly yelled and he stayed completely undisturbed by her rage.

"What are you talking about?" he dared asking like if he didn't know.

"I owled every letter myself, Albus..." she said drying her tears, "Her name wasn't in any of them..."

"That's because I delivered hers myself," he explained.

"Then how you dare pretending you don't know what I'm talking about? You promised me she'd never find out..." she was sobbing again.

"She's eleven years old, Minerva, she had to go to school," he said as a matter of fact, "and we are the only wizardry school in England."

"Do not play with me, Albus Dumbledore," she talked in a threatening tone, "we both know very well that you could have easily arranged it for her to go to Beauxbatons."

"Minerva, please," he put a hand on her shoulder but she moved away.

"Don't 'Minerva-pease' me any more," she said really upset, "the war ended three years ago and I've let you keep bossing me around day after day without complaining, but I am not willing to play whichever sick mind game you think this is," she passed through him heading to the door.

"I just thought you'd like to see her again," he said when she had her hand on the doorknob.

"There are things that are better left behind, Albus," she concluded, "you taught me that."

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. The resignation letter

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty?**

**Part 3 - THE RESIGNATION LETTER**

**.**

_"I know the war is no place for a baby, Albus," she repeated his words to make it clearer that she couldn't agree more, "that's the reason I decided to stay away from the Order."_

_At that point, Albus gave his back to her and sat down on the armchair near the fire, leaning towards her to say something important: "The Order needs you back, Minerva."_

* * *

...

* * *

Professor Snape had been very observant during the Welcoming dinner of the unusual behaviour between McGonagall and Dumbledore so when the next morning the Headmaster called him to his office, he thought maybe it had something to do with that.

"Please, come in, Severus," he said, "tell me, how are the first-years adjusting to your house?"

"It's too soon to tell, sir," the young professor responded as he sat down on one of the opposite chairs of the desk.

"I have actually asked you to come because I am concerned about one of the new Slytherins," Dumbledore explained, "her name is O'Flaherty. She grew up in a muggle orphanage and I am worried about how well she'll adapt in the school, especially in the house she's been sorted in." Was he really expecting him to believe that was his only concern about the young girl after the events of the previous night?

"I'll keep a special eye on her, sir," Severus assured, "is there anything else?"

"Only one thing," he said taking an envelope from the first drawer of his desk, "bring this back to professor McGonagall and tell her I had no time to write a formal response but that I am not accepting it."

"Alright, Sir," after that Severus stood up and left, curious about the letter and the young girl he had to watch.

* * *

She had woken up in a strange place, and she'd had to remind herself of where she was: Hogwarts, the school of Magic and Wizardry. It was still hard to believe she wasn't living a dream.

"Come on, Bel," Berta called her name, "we'll be late to our first class."

"Coming!" Isobel replied. She had been distracted by a large picture in the hallway of two ladies reading in a beautiful sitting room. What marveled her the most wasn't the great detail the painter had put into the dresses of the two girls, neither the bright colours or the technique. No, what amazed Isobel of the picture in front of her eyes was that the two ladies were moving. They were turning the pages of their books, talking with each other, moving their arms... it was like if instead of a painting, it was a large window what Isobel was watching.

* * *

The last students of Minerva's class were still leaving the classroom when Severus Snape stepped in.

"Good morning, professor Snape, can I help you?" she asked, standing behind her desk while cleaning the blackboard with smooth movements of her wand.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to bring you this," he approached her and handed her the envelope. She turned it around to see the Headmaster's name on her own handwriting and scowled at Severus.

"Is this all he gave you?" she asked with a louder voice than she had wished.

"He said he had no time to reply," he explained trying to take as much information from her expression as he could, "but that he wouldn't accept it."

To that Minerva responded with an infuriated scream of desperation and a dry hit of her heel against the stone floor. Fortunately there were no students left to see their teacher behave like an upset child.

"Thank you, Severus," she replied regaining her composure and not caring about formalities that they had been left alone.

"May I ask what is it that the Headmaster has rejected from you?" he wondered filled with curiosity but knowing he was just risking it.

"You may not," she slapped giving her back to him, expecting him to leave.

"Alright, anyway I have work to do," he said as walking away with small steps, "I must look for this new Slytherin girl that Dumbledore wants me to watch carefully..." he muttered expecting a response from her.

"Why does he want you to do such thing?" she asked and Severus smirked before turning back again to find himself face to face with the Transfiguration teacher.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he said, "since you almost choke when saying her name yesterday."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she tried to lie.

"If that's right, then tell me what you're holding is not a resignation letter," he pointed at the envelope Dumbledore had given him for Minerva and she clenched her fist making a ball of paper with it.

"That's none of your business," she slapped again,

"You're wrong, Minerva, if it has to do with one of my students, it does concern me."

"You hate the children," she shouted, knowing those were really harsh words, as he reached the door of the classroom.

"You might be right," he said, "but I dislike mysteries even more, so I shall not rest until I found out who Isobel O'Flaherty is."

* * *

During the rest of her morning, Minerva kept glancing at the envelope on her desk, wondering if Severus had opened it or if he had just guessed what it was.

It really didn't matter anymore, since Albus hadn't accepted her resignation. She didn't know why she'd written it anyway, she knew beforehand that he wouldn't let her go and, she didn't want to leave either.

After her last class she looked at her schedule one more time: the next morning she would be teaching the first-year Slytherins.

.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. The transfiguration class

A/N: I'm not too happy with today's flashback, but it's all I could come up with. I hope this is not too confusing, things will be clear soon.

.

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty?**

**part 4 - the transfiguration class**

.

_She stared at Albus with her last tears hanging at the corner of her eyes, waiting for his answer._

_"I promise, my dear," he finally said, "this baby will never know who you were."_

_"She has a name, Albus," she snapped, "I'd like it if you could use it."_

_"I don't think naming her after your mother is clever, Minerva," he pointed out._

_"I don't think giving her away is the right thing to do," she replied, "but I have agreed, so save your opinion to yourself and call the baby by the only name she has."_

* * *

…

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right one?" Isobel asked to her friend as they entered a nice classroom, with student desks at both sides, leaving a corridor in the middle that ended at the teachers' table, where a nice tabby cat was watching the students taking their places, but there was no sight of any teacher.

"Of course, I'm sure, all our group is here," Berta responded, "come on, let's sit here."

They sat on the second row, right behind a couple Gryffindors talking about dragons. Berta quickly entered the conversation while Isobel, who was still having a hard time believing that dragons existed, even after everything she'd seen for the past weeks of her life, watched the cat on the professor's desk. It made her remember of the cats that would come to the orphanage back garden to eat the rests of their lunches and dinners. The orphanage teachers didn't like the children playing with them but, they would never listen, they liked those cats because they were like them, they had no home.

When the large clock on the wall struck nine o'clock, the cat moved to the edge of the table, jumped and, before touching the ground, it was gone. Where there should be a cat, there was now the tall dark-haired witch who had read their names during the sorting ceremony.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall," she said elegantly walking around the desks, ignoring the thrilled expressions on the students faces, while a charmed piece of chalk wrote her name on the blackboard behind her desk. "I will teach you the art of changing the appearance of any object, which is, in my opinion, the most elegant type of magic you can be taught." She stopped at the end of the classroom and everybody turned around to look at her as she continued talking, "What you have just witnessed is a demonstration of animagi, a complicated but fascinating branch of transfiguration which you might learn more about during the last years you'll spend in the school, if you pass your OWLs with great marks." The professor opened one of the cupboards and took a small box, "but for now, all you must worry about is punctuality and paying attention. As long as you are always here at the time the class begins, give me your essays in time, listen carefully to all my suggestions and put interest into whatever we're learning, you will pass my subject," from the little box on her hands, professor McGonagall took out some matches that she handed to the students on her way to the front of the classroom, "If you neglect any of those points, you will not only fail Transfiguration but will not be allowed to come back into my class." she concluded firmly, "any questions?"

Isobel looked around, nobody raised their hand, and she wondered if it was because they were playing with the matches they'd been given, or because they were afraid of the professor.

"Good," McGonagall said standing in front of them holding a match on her left hand with only two of her fingers so everybody could see, and her wand on the other. Suddenly her voice changed completely, from that of a sergeant, to that of a little girl with a new toy, "let's begin the magic."

Isobel was sure she'd seen the shadow of a smile on the professor's face, but it was gone fast. WIth a move of her wand, McGonagall had just transformed the match between her fingers into a shiny needle and was now expecting them to do the same.

* * *

By the end of the class nobody had been able to get a needle from their matches, but Minerva had been more than proud to see that at least about four students had managed to make some change on their little stick, and that one of them had been Isobel.

She was clearly going to be a good student, she was a powerful witch with a great future ahead and, Minerva could only feel happiness for that because the little girl deserved it.

.

At lunchtime, Minerva was glad to find out Albus was gone for some Ministry matters, because she didn't want to encounter him yet. But her happiness didn't last long, Severus took the seat next to her at the teachers table.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...

.

**A/N: I'm stopping this here for two reasons: 1. I have to leave to work, 2. I don't know what Severus is going to tell Minerva yet. I hope you enjoyed this part ;-) I know this is going slowly and nothing seems to happen, but you'll really like it at the end, I promise!**


	5. The letter signed MM

**A/N: I had the feeling that things were going really very slow... so I hope you will find this chapter interesting and that I'll be able to write a nice following one. Maybe some flashback... a long one... I don't know.**

**Only Minerva and Severus appear on this part, and he is totally out of character. I felt like I had to apologize for this before anyone notices and thinks I didn't... I am just not JKR, and I don't pretend to be her... so when I write I kind of make the characters "mine" so they fit in the plot I've imagined. If someone doesn't like it, he/she doesn't need to read it. I write to please MYself, and I share it because it is always nice to know what other people think of your work, specially that people whose works I have also read. That's what I like of FanFiction. (Sorry about the monologue, but there was a comment on another of my stories that fired me up, and it was anonymous, so I couldn't reply and I needed to let it go.) **

**Anyway, thanks for your comments, even if this story is not receiving many, 9 follows is more than enough for me to believe people is interested in what's going to happen ^_^ Enjoy!**

**.**

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty?**

**part 5 - the letter signed M.M.**

**.**

_"I don't want to give her to some strangers," she said, "or abandon her in any muggle orphanage"_

_"...but Minerva, you knew this situation wasn't permanent," he kept his voice soft._

_"I don't care," she said breaking into tears, "I have a responsibility towards her, I-" her sobs didn't let her continue._

_"Minerva, please, come to your senses, can't you see that this will be the best for you and for the baby."_

_"She needs a good mother," she stated as her breath calmed down but still unable to stop crying._

_"But that doesn't need to be you," Dumbledore concluded._

* * *

...

* * *

Minerva slightly raised her head to salute her colleague.

"I am in no mood for arguments," she said as a warning and returning to the plate on the table.

"Alright," Severus replied taking the seat next to her, "neither am I," he filled his cup with some water and after calming down his thirst, he took out from his pocket a folded parchment that he handed to Minerva.

"What is this?" she asked.

"The classes you will have to cover up for Filius while he's gone," he explained without even looking at her while he grabbed the salad bowl.

"I see," she muttered while peeking the provisional schedule, "so you're not only Albus' spy, but also his messenger," she kept the paper in her robes with a smirk on her lips, although she knew he couldn't see.

"If you don't want to start an argument, I suggest you avoid your 'funny jokes', Professor..." he pointed out, emphasizing that last word to remind her they were in the Great Hall, so they should keep a certain level of formality.

"You misunderstood me, Severus," she said, "I wasn't joking, I was only pointing out a fact." After that, a giggle escape from her lips and she quickly grabbed a napkin to cover her mouth.

"By the way," the potions master talked after a moment of tense silence, "Albus is not the only one who has been gone this morning," he paused, giving her time to reply.

"I have no interest on knowing how you spend your free time, professor Snape," she pointed out.

"I know, but since you had your fun joking about the tasks the Headmaster gives me, I thought I'd have mine letting you know that I had just been at Saint Felix's school in London..." after that he tried to reach his cup but Minerva turned around to him with such rage that the table trembled and it felt down, spilling all the water on the wood.

"You didn't!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

"Of course I did," he insisted calmly while drying the mess with his wand, "and it's not a bad place for being an orphanage, I'm pretty sure Miss. O'Flaherty had a nice childhood there..."

"Severus, I suggest you stop this silly search right here," she said in a threatening tone.

"Or what? You will tell on me?" he smirked, "If Dumbledore didn't wanted me to know about Miss. O'Flaherty's past he wouldn't have asked me to spy on her in the first place; don't you think?"

Severus waited for a reply but instead of that he watched the professor sitting next to him stand up and leave the table without saying another word.

* * *

She had had to cover up for Filius in two charms lessons that afternoon, after which she was exhausted. Maybe it was all those thoughts and ghosts that had been haunting her since the hat ceremony that were sucking up all her energy, or maybe it was the fact that she hadn't had any proper meal lately. Whatever it was, she was sure that seeing Severus Snape standing at Flitwick's classroom door after the last class of the afternoon was dismissed, wouldn't make any good difference.

"What is it now?" she asked after noticing him and not caring at all about formalities.

"I came to apologize," he said, walking into the empty classroom.

"Apology not accepted, you can go now," she snapped while tidying the desk of feathers and parchments. When she looked up again, Severus was standing at the other side of Flitwick's table, staring at her, "What?"

"I guessed you would be hungry by now," he said and Minerva knitted her eyebrows as he took some kind of wrapped packet from under his robes, "you left the Great Hall in such a hurry," he said carefully unwrapping it, only to discovered two pieces of the cheesecake that was served for lunch.

"Do I have to believe this is some kind of peace offering?" she questioned, "or are you pretending to bribe me with desserts?"

"I know you much better than that," he said taking one of the children's chairs closer to the desk and sitting down, "let's say it is an excuse to come and continue our conversion in private."

"I don't recall us having any conversion," Minerva sat down as well, and transfigured a couple of feathers into two nice silver spoons.

"Of course we were, about Saint Felix school, that nice orphanage were you and Dumbledore left Miss. O'Flaherty eleven years ago."

"Nine," she handed a spoon to her colleague, "it will be nine years ago on February."

"Who is her, Minerva?" Severus asked showing much more interest than he wanted to.

"You already know," she answered and then took some cheesecake to her mouth, savouring it slowly before continuing, "her name is Isobel O'Flaherty, has eleven years old, grew up in an Orphanage..." she wasn't going to tell him anything new, but he wasn't going to give up easily.

"I read her file," he said and Minerva looked up at him with a hint of fear on her eyes, "there wasn't much information other than the date she entered the school, the very few times she's been ill, her school marks... there was nothing about her parents but," he paused to eat some of the delicious sweet dessert too, "I did found this letter," he showed her an old parchment with Minerva's handwriting. She tried to grab it, but he didn't let her, and instead, he read aloud:

_Dear Mrs. Todd, Headmistress of Saint Felix School,_

_I cannot explain to you the reasons that oblige me to leave this baby at the door of your school, but I need to ask you to take very good care of her._

_She is a very special little girl, with the sweetest laugh you will ever hear. I hope you find her a good and caring family that will show her the good path in life._

_Her name is Mary Isobel O'Flaherty, I would like her to keep it, since it will be the only memory she will have from her past._

_The blanket she takes with her is her favorite, she always looks for it when she gets tired, that means she want's to go to bed. She likes to fall asleep while being sang the Highland Fairy lullaby, but I'm sure any other song would do. She doesn't like carrots, although I try to put some in her baby food, and she likes cats, she adores them._

_When she grow up, tell her she once had a mother and a father that cared for her, even if they made very bad choices._

_Yours faithfully,_

_M.M._

When Severus finished reading the letter he handed it to his colleague, but she wasn't even looking at him, she had her face buried between her hands and she was crying.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. The 1966 year book

A/N: I'm very sorry that I've been away for a few weeks (again), apart of many other reasons, I've been with exams at university,and I try to stay away of my "geeky" hobbies during this time of year. But I'm back, and with lots of updates, I hope. :-)

This part has been hard. I had to decide weather I kept the intrigue a little more or began to tell everything at once, and I have written and rewritten it several times. After a PM from Betty. Q I realized it was time to post at least something, so I'm sorry it's not a very long part, but it's an update, and a very interesting one, I promise.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Who is Isobel O'Flaherty?**

**.**

**Part 6**

**.**

**The 1966 year book**

.

_His words hanged in the air for a long moment, while she sat on the other armchair at his left. She couldn't go back to the Order, she thought, she wasn't ready, and even if she was..._

_"...there's Isobel," she said, "I can't go back to the war having a baby in charge."_

_"Well, that's what I actually came to talk about, Minerva," he talked with a soft voice and rested his hand on hers. At first she accepted his touch understanding it as a friendly physical contact, but then she realized he was comforting her in advanced because he was going to ask her again to give Isobel away, so she got free from his hand._

_"NO!" she yelled angrily standing up._

_"Minerva, please..." he stood up too._

_"I told you, NO!" she repeated moving away from him, she wouldn't let Albus or anyone take away the only good thing there was in her life._

* * *

…

* * *

He had never seen her like that before; not during his student years when Minerva had only been his professor, and certainly not during the last three years, working together in the school. And yet, there she was, the great and strong-character Minerva McGonagall, weeping in front of him because of his fault.

While their relationship had never been anything special as professor and student, it had changed now that they were both adults. They both seemed to enjoy arguing about anything and having laugh of each other using witty irony and sarcasm. Sometimes it even look as if they had a secret word code that only Minerva and Severus could understand because the rest of the staff didn't get their puns. That made them feel smarter and they both liked that feeling.

This time, he wasn't feeling smart at all.

At first he felt uncomfortable with her tears and wasn't sure if he should stay or leave her alone. Then he began to feel awful for what he'd done, for whatever memories he'd awoke on her, and tried to figure out a way to stop her sobbing.

He walked around the table, stood next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said.

He didn't count how many seconds or minutes he stood there in a silence only broken by her crying, but his hand rested on her shoulder long enough to make that uncomfortable feeling surround him again. But then, a soft touch tickled him. Minerva had stopped crying and was now holding his hand with hers.

"Eleven years ago," she explained with a trembling voice, "I did something terrible."

"You were young," Severus interrupted, "I'm sure you had your reasons to give up your child."

"No, Severus," she raised her face to look up at him, "Isobel is not my daughter," she confessed.

* * *

...

* * *

"Isobel!" Berta called her friend in the middle of the hall and the young girl stopped and turned around, only to see her classmate running towards her with Anthony and Charlie behind her.

"I told you, I hate this assignment," Isobel exclaimed, "I don't care if professor Quirrell fails me, I have nothing to tell about my family's heritage."

"But we found something," Anthony interrupted her and turned to look at the young Weasley, who took out a library book from his bag.

"I was looking at my parent's yearbook to talk about their youth when I saw her," he opened a book by a previously marked page. In the middle of it there was a black and white picture of a bunch of old students. At the bottom of it, it said Slythering 7th Year 1966-67. Charlie pointed out at a young girl from the first row.

"What about her?" she asked, not understanding anything.

"Can't you see it? She looks exactly like you!" he exclaimed.

"So what? I look like an old student of the school..." she said with no kind of amusement.

"Wait, that's not all..." he said turning the page, "here's the name of all the students, look," he placed his finger on the page, right next to a random name, and Isobel read it out loud.

"Fergus... O'Flaherty," she said and then looked at her friends, "you think I could be related to him?"

"Why not? You look exactly like one of his classmates, probably they got married after school, just like my parents did." Charlie explained.

"Wouldn't it be amazing, Bel!" Berta exclaimed.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**P.S. As I said, I'm sorry this wasn't longer, but I would love to know what you think of the story so far now that you have a new hint of where I want to go with it. ^.^ **


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